Combined wall and awning structure



Oct. 10, 1967 -J. c. DASHIO 3,346,238

COMBINED WALL AND AWNING STRUCTURE I Filed Dec. 1, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR:

Oct. 10, 1967 J. c. b sHlo 3,346,238

COMBINED WALL AND AWNING STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 1, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVEN TOR.

Oct. 10, 1967 J. c. DASHIO 3,346,238

COMBINED WALL AND AWNING STRUCTURE Filed Dad. 1, 1965 s Sheets-Sheet s Fly. 11

INVEN TOR.

BY 7 4543 M United States Patent Ofiice 3,346,238 Patented Oct. 10, 1967 3,346,238 COMBINED WALL AND AWNING STRUCTURE John C. Dashio, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor of thirtythree and one-third percent to William B. J aspert, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed Dec. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 526,921 4 Claims. (Cl. 256-24) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in combination wall and awning structures for recreational areas such as swimming pools and the like, and it is among the objects thereof to provide a combination upright for supporting movable panel members, which uprights are provided with guideways that direct the panels to either a wall closure position, or a roof-like awning position.

The present application discloses an improvement of the subject-matter disclosed and claimed in my pending application, Ser. No. 366,339, filed May 11, 1964, now Patent No. 3,291,453. In that application, I have disclosed a combined wall and awning structure in which the guideways of the uprights are adapted to receive rollers for supporting and directing the movement of the panels. In the instant case, rollers are mounted on the panel members to move with the panels on the guideways of the uprights.

It is among the objects of the invention to have guideways in the supporting uprights with a cam slot for receiving a pair of spaced rollers of the panel members which are spring biased to be displaced in notches providing for aligning and retaining the panel members in their roof or awning position.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a plurality of movable closure panels for fencing-off recreational areas; embodying the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of an enlarged detail of a portion of the upright support and guide for directing the movement of a panel member and locking it in its raised position;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are similar views showing the panel members in difierent positions;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view, partially in cross section, with a portion of the flanges of the panel and upright broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 a cross section taken along the line 7-7, FIGURE 5 FIGURE 8 a view in perspective of the top of an upright support;

FIGURE 9 a front elevational view of closure panels mounted on their upright supports;

FIGURE 10 a side elevational view of the upright supports taken along the line Ill-10, FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 a section taken along the line 11-11 of FIGURE 9; and

FIGURE 12 is a side elevational view of the top of the upright support showing the cam track for the guide rollers.

With reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, the numeral 1 generally designates panel members mounted on uprights 2 which are arranged in spaced relation to form a continuous closure for fencing-off a recreational area such as a swimming pool 3. As shown, some of the panels are in raised position and tilted to form roof or awning structures for shade and at the same time create space for ventilation through the pool area. The corner members, of course, are mounted to be rigid and not movable, as their movement would interfere with the operation of adjacent panels.

The present invention deals specifically with a manner of mounting and operating the panel members in their supports to provide a simple and inexpensive operating mechanism therefor. To this end, the supports 2 are provided with guideways 4 for receiving flanged rollers 5 and 6, FIGURES 5, 6, 7 and 11, being mounted on blocks 7 that are slidable in channels 8 mounted in U- shaped frame members 8, FIGURE 7, the rollers being separated by means of a spring 9, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, a detailed construction of the mounting of the rollers being more apparent from FIGURE 7 of the drawing.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the rollers 5 and 6 are mounted on stud-shafts 5' and 6' having heads 14 for receiving a wrench. The stud shafts have threaded ends that screw into the rollers and are locked by pins 15.

As shown in FIGURE 12, the top of the supporting column 2 is provided with what may be designated an angular head 10 having a cam slot 11 with notches 12 and 13 in which the rollers 5 and 6 snap by action of the spring 9 when the panel 1 is moved to the sloping position, as shown in FIGURE 12. By simply gripping the panel, as by the handles 16 and 17, FIGURE 9, and rolling it upwards, it will automatically tilt when the rollers strike the cam track 11 and snap into the position shown in FIGURE 12. There is ample space in the cam track area to insert the rollers 5 and a wrench can be inserted through the opening at the top of the upright to fasten bolt 14.

As is shown in FIGURE 8, the upright 2 is a double wall or channel-shaped member to which the guideways 4 are cut on opposite sides, as are also the cam tracks 11, thus a single upright will receive the rollers of two adjacent panels which requires the use of minimum parts in the construction of the wall and roof members.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the guide rollers 5 and 6 are mounted on bolts 14 which are fastened to the blocks 7 that are biased by the spring 9 to permit spreading to the notches 12 and 13 when they reach the top of the guide way of the upright.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 show the position of the guide rollers when the panel member is in the different inclined positions. In its normally down position, the panel member would be entirely vertical and rollers 5 and 6 would be in the vertical portion of the guideway 4. When the top roller 6 strikes the cam face of the guideway, it will move toward the right to incline the panel, as shown in FIGURE 2, and as movement progresses, the roller 6 will snap into the recess or notch 13, as shown in FIGURE 3. By further tilting the panel 1, roller 5 will snap into the notch 12 of the cam track while the roller 6 remains in the notch 13, as shown in FIGURE 4. Upon return movement of the panel members to the vertical position, the operator merely begins to swing the end of the panel downward and roller 5 will ride over the hump designated by the numeral 18, FIGURE 3, and then lower into the vertical guideway portion 4 while roller 6 will ride the cam face 11 downwardly until it also is disposed in the vertical portion of the guideway, and lets the panel ride down until it comes to rest on the bottom edge, as shown in FIGURE 9 of the drawing.

It will be evident from the foregoing description of this invention, that combined wall and awning panels mounted on biased rollers for movement in guideways having a cam surface for directing the panel, is a simple and inexpensive construction for combined wall and awning members for enclosing recreational areas.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. A structure for slidably mounting panel type Wall and awning units, comprising a pair of rollers mounted at opposite sides of said panels and movable relative to each other, spring means for biasing said rollers away from each other, and spaced uprights having guideways receiving said rollers, at least one of said guideways being formed with a cam track having spaced notches at least one of which is laterally spaced from the plane of said guideway, said notches being spaced a distance less than the spacing of the associated pair of rollers when in their fully extended position whereby said rollers are biased by said spring means into said notches for releasably retaining said panel in its awning position.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the cam track is provided with a hump adjacent one of said notches to direct the panel in the direction of said one laterally oifset notch. 7

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said spring means References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 331,315 12/1885 McGuire 49-201 664,716 12/1900 Bramer 49-201 1,529,601 3/1925 Lyons 49197 1,530,428 3/1925 Sines 160-201 X 1,710,046 4/1929 DOWn et a1. 49-l99 2,575,201 11/ 1951 Tillotson 49-199 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STRUCTURE FOR SLIDABLY MOUNTING PANEL TYPE WALL AND AWNING UNITS, COMPRISING A PAIR OF ROLLERS MOUNTED AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PANELS AND MOVABLE RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, SPRING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID ROLLERS AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, AND SPACED UPRIGHTS HAVING GUIDEWAYS RECEIVING SAID ROLLERS, AT LEAT ONE OF SAID GUIDEWAYS BEING FORMED WITH A CAM TRACK HAVING SPACED NOTCHES AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH IS LATERALLY SPACED FROM THE PLANE OF SAID GUIDEWAY, SAID NOTCHES BEING SPACED A DISTANCE LESS THAN THE SPACING OF THE ASSOCIATED PAIR OF ROLLERS WHEN IN THEIR FULLY EXTENDED POSITION WHEREBY SAID ROLLERS ARE BIASED BY SAID SPRING MEANS INTO SAID NOTCHES FOR RELEASABLY RETAINING SAID PANEL IN ITS AWNING POSITION. 